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About Linda

Linda Cockey, DMA, NCTM, is Professor Emerita and pianist at Salisbury University in Maryland where she initiated and team taught a Wellness in Performance course with an athletic trainer and clinical psychologist for over twenty-five years. The course focused on achieving peak performances, optimal practice techniques and injury prevention. In addition, she taught all levels of piano, music history and form and analysis. She was named Distinguished Professor at Shandong University in Jinan China where she taught piano and lectured on musician’s health. Reginald Gerig, author of Famous Pianist’s and Their Technique invited her to write the annotated wellness bibliography included in the Indiana University Press edition. During her long career at SU, she performed with the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra, Germany as well as several universities on the East coast. Linda also served as music department chair at SU and during that time, the program received their first accreditation from the National Association of Schools in Music (NASM) who also invited her to be visitor and team leader for other schools going through this process.

Linda began studying piano at the age of five. Growing up in a Philadelphia suburb, she was given many opportunities to perform in master classes with artist teachers from New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and surrounding areas. She holds an undergraduate degree in piano performance from Lebanon Valley College where her teacher invited her to study at Bay View Conservatory in Michigan for three summers. She also holds a master’s degree from Temple University, and she received her DMA from the Catholic University of America. Her teachers included Susan Starr, Thomas Mastroianni, Bela Nagy, and Barbara English Maris for piano pedagogy​​.

During retirement, Linda is still an active clinician, studio teacher, writer and performs when the opportunity arises. Her work in musician wellness led to many national and international presentations with organizations and associations. She was chair of MTNA’s (Music Teacher’s National Association) e-Journal’s board from 2017-2023 and is a member of the wellness committee for the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP).

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Linda’s latest project resulted in co-authoring a book Health, Wellness and Wholeness in the Music Studio with colleagues Gail Berenson and Charles Turon, published by MTNA (2025) and is available through Amazon. She values her work with her students and colleagues as a promoter of overall health, safety and well-being for all musicians, regardless of age and level.

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Announcing a new book by Gail Berenson, Linda Cockey, and Charles Turon

At long last, Health, Wellness, and Wholeness in the Music Studio is in print and available for purchase through Amazon. Published by MTNA, this book integrates recent research in musicians’ health and wellness with traditional student-centered teaching.

 

The information is based upon two models. Whole Student Paradigm illustrates interconnections between the social, psychological, physiological, and lifestyle components of students’ lives that may affect their musical development.

 

The Functional Wholeness Continuum provides a means of evaluating each of these components in three zones: At Risk, In Development, and Reaching Independence.

 

Teacher wholeness is also examined as an essential contributor to effective teaching. Written by Gail Berenson, Linda Cockey and Charles Turon. The book is designed for studio teachers and students preparing for teaching careers. 

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